2011 National Signing Day chatter....

[sbk92]

No. 1 LB sweep for Clemson

Not only did Clemson land the nation's top ILB in Tony Steward (see below), but Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele also snagged the nation's top OLB in four-star Stephone Anthony of North Carolina (No. 32 in the ESPNU 150). Anthony made his announcement on ESPNU and said that he was not in comunication with Steward, so it appears as if the Tigers landed two defensive playmakers on their own. As for Swinney's chances of keeping his job beyond 2011, they look a lot better now.

 

[sbk92]

Another boost at LB for Dawgs

Georgia missed out on four-star DE Jeoffrey Pagan and four-star OT Antonio Richardson earlier on Wednesday, but the Dawgs did get what they hope is an appetizer for five-star RB Isaiah Crowell when they landed four-star OLB Kent Turene of Florida, who had been a long-time USC commitment.

Turene walked into his high school's signing ceremony wearing a Texas Tech hat, but took that lid off to reveal that he would be a Georgia Bulldog.

LB is an area of concern for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who lost Justin Houston, Darryl Gamble, Akeem Dent, Marcus Dowtin, Nick Williams and Akeem Hebron to the NFL, graduation and transfer. But with five-star DE Ray Drew -- who is expected to play Houston's OLB position -- USC transfer Jarvis Jones and Turene coming to Athens, along with two other four-star LBs (OLB Amarlo Herrera and ILB Ramik Wilson), the Dawgs will not be without options.

 

[sbk92]

ATH Calloway is back to Bama

Four-star ATH Brent Calloway of Alabama (No. 140 in the ESPNU 150) surprised many earlier in January when he reneged on a 19-month-old pledge to Alabama and committed to Auburn. The reported reason: The Tide wants Calloway as a defensive player (S or LB), but he wants to play RB. (Calloway has said that the former is not true.)

Calloway's adopted father told Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News that he was unhappy with his son's decision -- "I'm from the old school," Harland (Peaches) Winston said. "When you shake a man's hand, look him in the eye and make a commitment, you stick to that commitment" -- but that he would respect it.

However, Bama fans are all atwitter again over the news that Calloway skipped a planned visit to Auburn on Saturday and instead traveled to Tuscaloosa. Does that mean he's ready to switch back to Alabama? "I can't say that," Winston told Bryan App of the Florence TimesDaily. "I don't know what he's going to do. It's his call. Whatever he wants to do I'm behind it 100 percent. We'll find out Wednesday."

FWIW, a source "close to the situation" told App that Calloway remains 100 percent solid with his commitment to the Tigers.

UPDATE: Turns out the visit to Tuscaloosa last weekend was telling, as ATH Brent Calloway -- likely to end up on defense -- switched his commitment back to Alabama on national signing day. Chalk up another one for Nick Saban.

 

[sbk92]

Tigers complete OL with Kouandjio

We know that it won't shake out this way immediately, but Auburn has a veritable Fab Five of O-line prospects that could start as a unit at some point in their careers, following Wednesday's announcement that the nation's top OT, Cyrus Kouandjio, will sign with Auburn. The Tigers also landed the nation's No. 2 OT, five-star Christian Westerman, who figures to be a RT on The Plains, plus four-star OGs Thomas O'Reilly and Gregory Robinson and four-star C Reese Dismukes, who is also the No. 1 player at his position. All except for Robinson are members of the ESPNU 150. Wow.

 

[sbk92]

Clemson steals Oregon commit

Is this the reason that Clemson elected to stop recruiting four-star DE Jeoffrey Pagan? Or is it merely a byproduct of that decision? Either way, both Paul Strelow of Clemson247.com and Justin Hopkins of 247Sports.com say that it appears as if Dabo Swinney & Co. will turn around and try to use Pagan's scholarship on high-three-star DE Roderick Byers of South Carolina, who committed to Oregon on Wednesday.

Byers reportedly has called Clemson his dream school, and it appears that the Tigers were slow to move on him because they were still trying to land Jadeveon Clowney and/or Pagan. With the two of them all but out of the picture now, the Tigers can turn their attention toward backup choices.

However, Clemson still has offers out to four-star DT Phillip Dukes (who favors South Carolina) and three-star ATH Jerell Adams (recruited by most as a DE), both of South Carolina, so the staff may wait a few days to get a feel for their leanings before moving on Byers. Adams is down to the Tigers and the Gamecocks.

UPDATE: Roderick Byers indeed signed with Clemson on Wednesday, adding another top defensive prospect to the Tigers' haul. Byers reportedly was not offered by Clemson until Tuesday night, after both Jerell Adams and Phillip Dukes (see below) committed to South Carolina, and Byers quickly accepted.

 

[sbk92]

RB Crowell completes Dream Team

Mark Richt may have bought himself another year following the commitment of five-star RB Isaiah Crowell, who figures to step into the starting lineup right away and potentially may an impact similar to the one made by Marcus Lattimore at South Carolina. Crowell completes the Dream Team concept that Richt sold to in-state prospects and, barring a complete collapse, likely means that Richt is safe through 2012.

 

[sbk92]

The next Nick Fairley?

Gabe Wright certainly made a statement on Wednesday in committing to Auburn, as expected, by donning an AU cap that read NICK WHO? on the back, a reference to departing DT Nick Fairley, whom Wright has a chance to replace. To his credit, Wright acknowledged that it will take a lot of hard work to get to Fairley's level, but he certainly has a good model to work from.

 

[sbk92]

Report: Second thoughts for Kouandjio

Kristen Kenney of Scout.com is reporting that Cyrus Kouandjio is not expected to sign is letter of intent on Wednesday, and that he made his announcement without first telling his parents or his brother, Arie. Kouandjio also told Kenney that he has "big doubts" about his decision, which means a reversal could be in order. This has shades of Kentucky basketball player Terrence Jones, a Seattle product who committed to Washington at a press conference and then immediately got on the phone with John Calipari, ultimately signing with the Wildcats.

 

[sbk92]

Buckeyes wins battle for ILB Grant

Ohio State indeed finally landed a big-time LB as four-star ILB Curtis Grant, who dropped a spot to No. 46 on the final ESPNU 150, picked the Buckeyes on Wednesday. Teamed with late four-star OLB pickup Ryan Shazier, a Florida decommit, four-star ILB Ejuan Price and three-star OLB Connor Crowell, the Buckeyes have added valuable depth and talent to a thin position.

 

[sbk92]

Illini steal Kentucky's top prospect

Four-star ATH Jon Davis of Kentucky (No. 138 in the ESPNU 150), the Wildcat's top-rated commitment in the class of 2011, remains committed to Joker Phillips & Co. but will listen to pitches from Louisville and Illinois. Davis has an official scheduled to Champaign this weekend and another to Louisville next week, but he may reverse the two if weather keeps him in-state.

Driving Davis' decision, his father told Chip Cosby of the Lexington Herald-Leader, is that the Wildcats recently added a third TE -- Davis' preferred position -- to the class of 2011. They already have six scholarship TEs on the roster scheduled to return next fall.

"Jon was a little surprised by that," Reggie Davis said. "Things are changing a little bit. He's believing he's the guy, and here comes another tight end. Now all of a sudden they've got (nine) tight ends. He's not trying to play games. He just wants to make sure. He doesn't want to get to Kentucky and after a practice wonder if he did the right thing."

Still, Reggie Davis added, "Somebody will have to derail him from Kentucky," suggesting that if Davis hears what he needs to hear from the Wildcats coaches, he'll still happily sign on the dotted line on Feb. 2.

UPDATE: As Kentucky feared, four-star ATH Jon Davis, the program's top commitment, has signed with Illinois, which features two coaches that the Louisville native is very familiar with: offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and QB coach Brian Brohm, who were both Cardinals assistants. Petrino and Brohm reportedly told Davis that he would be used in the same way that Louisville used its TEs when Bobby Petrino was the head coach.

 

[sbk92]

Michigan closing strong

When Brady Hoke took over the Michigan program, recruiting analysts thought his first recruiting class could be deemed a success if he was able to get to 16 Big Ten-caliber recruits. Well, the Wolverines are already at 20 and counting, thanks to decisions in their favor from three of the players listed below: RB Thomas Rawls (whose high school coach says Rawls is better than Mark Ingram, a fellow Flint native -- of course, the coach is the son of Michigan RB coach Fred Jackson), LB/TE Frank Clark and TE Chris Barnett, perhaps the biggest get as he is a former Oklahoma and Arkansas commit.

The Wolverines missed out on DT Darian Cooper (Iowa) and OT Jake Fisher (Oregon) but are still in the running for LB Leilon Willingham, who reportedly will not announce until Thursday.

 

[sbk92]

Top remaining La. prospect picks LSU

For a long time, four-star DE Jermauria Rasco of Louisiana (who dropped out of the final ESPNU 150) was thought to be headed to either Texas or LSU, but with former Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp now Florida's head coach, the Gators have become a serious player for Rasco.

Rasco's coach, Phillip Deas, tells Edward Aschoff of the Gainesville Sun that Rasco is expected to visit Florida and Arkansas with his last two officials. Those two schools, LSU, Texas and Florida State make up his final five.

Like his previous decision, this one is expected to come down to whether Rasco feels the pull to stay in state or is willing to put his future in the hands of Muschamp. The fact that Rasco didn't know much about the Gators program before Muschamp was hired is not an issue. The Tigers' perhaps unstable coaching situation might have been a concern before, but with Les Miles' new extension, LSU's case is stronger.

ESPN's Jamie Newberg reports that Jermauria Rasco will now visit LSU this weekend, with either Texas, Arkansas or Florida on tap next week. That would suggest that LSU probably remains Rasco's most likely ultimate destination.

UPDATE: As expected, Jermauria Rasco announced for LSU on Wednesday afternoon, putting a final nail in Florida's hopes of landing one last four-star prospect. Rasco's signing takes the sting off a bit for losing out on four-star DT Tim Jernigan, who chose Florida State over the Tigers.

 

[sbk92]

Next year's group will have Barry Sanders' son in it. Barry Sanders Jr.

And they say he's a dynamite runner like his dad.

 

[sbk92]

[video=youtube;Xu9Q04L4a7k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu9Q04L4a7k&feature=related[/video]

 

[sbk92]

An Oklahoma kid.

Sooner bound. Please.

 

[sbk92]

ESPN just reported that the NCAA is about to come down hard on USC and Tennessee.

 

[Mr.Po]

ESPN just reported that the NCAA is about to come down hard on USC and Tennessee.

..........with this silver tounged turd to thank